Civic Activities and Family Life
On June 6, 1865, Cheney married Elizabeth Stickney Clapp, daughter of Asahel and Elizabeth Searle (Whiting) Clapp of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The Cheneys had a son, Benjamin Pierce Cheney, Jr., and three daughters, Alice Steele, Mary and Elizabeth.
Cheney was a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He donated $50,000 to Dartmouth College, and in 1886 he presented a bronze statue by Thomas Ball of his friend Daniel Webster to the people of New Hampshire; today it is located in front of the New Hampshire State House. He also helped develop the eastern part of Washington state with a railroad line. As a result, Cheney, Washington, is named in his honor, and with a $10,000 grant he helped establish a school there in 1882 that evolved into Eastern Washington University.
Cheney was also one of the most generous supporters of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, after becoming a member in 1864. His property in Wellesley, Massachusetts is now protected as Elm Bank Reservation.
Read more about this topic: Benjamin Pierce Cheney
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